Top Photo: Modern-day České Velenice is not quite the ‘Happy Place’ that this photo says it is. Like many border towns around the world, the weaker side tends to cater to the vices of the ‘stronger’ — in this case, a brothel on every corner and cars bearing Austrian license plates in every parking lot. Photo by Mark Baker.
A run down building with a “Happy Place” sign in České Velenice, Czech Republic.
I’m an independent journalist, travel writer and author who’s lived in Central Europe for nearly three decades. I love the history, literature, culture and mystery of this often-overlooked corner of Europe, and I make my living writing articles and guidebooks about the region. Much of what I write eventually finds its way into commercial print or digital outlets, but a lot of it does not.
And that’s my aim with this website: to find a space for stories and experiences that fall outside the publishing mainstream.
In 2021, I published “Čas Proměn” (“Time of Changes”), my first book of historical nonfiction. The book, written in Czech, is a collection of stories about Central and Eastern Europe in the 1980s and early ‘90s, including memories of the thrilling anti-communist revolutions of 1989. The idea for the book and many of the tales I tell there were directly inspired by this blog. Czech readers, find a link to purchase the book here. I hope you enjoy.